The Future is Bright

By Hilary Duff

On Thursday, May 15, if you were to walk down the halls of Lockerby, all you would have seen would have been a rush of students in long gowns, their hat tassels stretching out behind them as they walked; or perhaps you might have bumped into a proud parent, grandparent, or friend, there to support their new graduate.

This year’s graduating class was diverse, ambitious, and enthusiastic, and received a well deserved night of recognition for the tasks they achieved throughout their four years at Lockerby. The 49th Annual Commencement Ceremony held in the MacKellar Auditorium brought together almost 200 Lockerby graduates and their families.

With Mrs. Blasutti remaining as the body-less voice behind the scenes, ushering in the graduates and Ms. Chapman playing the role of Master of Ceremonies, the graduation was sure to run smoothly and efficiently.

The graduation ceremony began with members of the Senior Concert Band performing the traditional processional, Pomp and Circumstance, and then playing a majestic version of O’Canada. After all the graduates had entered the auditorium, Lockerby Student’s Council President, Spenser Shaw, welcomed all staff, family, friends, and graduates to Lockerby with her invocation speech. From here, the ceremony progressed to heart-warming greetings from Doreen Dewar, the School board trustee for Lockerby and her inspiring story about getting through the tough times, and never giving up. In another personal and inspiring introduction, Lockerby principal, Mr. Bruce Bourget, quoted his three daughters, one of whom told her dad to tell the graduates that he loved them and then proceed to give each a hug. It is with this innocence that graduates remembered back to the days not so long ago, when all was possible and the future was as bright as a shining star.

To begin the awards session of the ceremony, the individual subject awards were presented to deserving students who had achieved the highest mark in each class. Congratulations go out to all students who received this honour, and it is with this hard work and dedication to learning that will help you to accomplish unlimited goals next year.

The Viking Scholar 90% Club recognizes those students whose weighted average is over 90% in at least six grade 12 subjects. In comparison to the number of students in this club at last year’s graduation, this year’s graduates went above and beyond all expectations. Twenty one of Lockerby’s brightest minds were given the honour of walking across the stage to be congratulated by the Director of Education, Jean Hanson. Each recipient received a special pen donated by Muirhead Grand and Toy.

The third event of the ceremony took place with Viking Scholar Honour Pins and Certificates being presented to over half the graduating class, who had either maintained an average of over 80% in four years, or who had achieved the feat this year.

Also, Lockerby is lucky to be able to give away a number of special awards every year at the graduation ceremony. Graduates were honoured with awards recognizing a wide variety of talents, such as awards to top performers in local French Contests to awards for dedicated athletes. Highlights of these awards were Andrew Pawluch, who received the University of Toronto National Scholarship, and Spenser Shaw who won both the Laura Cotesta Memorial Bursary, and the Adam Tonnos Giving Bursary.

Finally, the part of the ceremony that everyone was waiting for arrived at last. The full presentation of all the high school diplomas occurred at this time, giving each student a chance to walk across the stage, and smile out on the class of 2007-2008.

The final and most distinguished awards presentation before the end of the convocation was the presentation of the Most Outstanding Young Lady and Young Man. Huge congratulations this year go out to Sara McCulligh, Maria Sokolova, and Andrew Pawluch, for being role models, academics, and leaders within, and outside of, the school community.

At last came the speech to which the whole ceremony had been building up. For the entire ceremony, this year’s student elected Valedictorian, Matt Buttazzoni had been sitting quietly on stage, receiving a number of awards, while still maintaining his modest, unassuming posture. When it was his time to speak, he addressed the audience with great confidence, capturing both humour and sentiment. With constant references to Chuck Norris and Zoolander, Buttazzoni managed to work his way through a speech that pleased both the dignitaries and graduates alike.

Finally, the graduation ceremony ended as it had began, with the band playing an upbeat rendition of March of the Belgian Paratroopers as all guests proceeded to the gym for a congratulatory reception.

Congratulations again go out to award winners and graduates from the class of 07-08. The future is bright for everyone, and from here, there is nowhere to go but up.

Lockerby Improv team takes to the National stage

by: Spenser Shaw

Though the sun may be shining now, this article would like to revisit a time way back when snow was still having reign over our city. During the week of February 18th, Lockerby’s Improvisation team battled for the title of regional champs. After placing 1st during the preliminary rounds, the team was on edge all week as they sat out the wait to see if they would advance to the finals held on Saturday February 23rd. In true Viking manner, the team stayed in first place the entire tournament- including after the regional championships.

Bearing the title of Champions of the North (the region being as far as Timmins, Bracebridge and Barrie), Lockerby moved on to the Canadian Improv Games in Ottawa, Ontario. The CIG’s is as big as it gets for high school improv, which meant the team definitely had to step up their game and make sure they were dedicated to the moment.

The small team of seven were all new to the national stage, as Lockerby had only visited the CIG’s once before (in 2004) throughout the 15 years Improv has been included in high schools of the north. This year’s team consisted of members Dino Cecutti, Alison Aho, Paul Morse, Roberto Muscolino, Stephanie Sindori, Spenser Shaw and James Amero. With only grade 11’s acting as the veterans of the team, everyone had to learn quickly and not be afraid of taking the risks the Ottawa judges were looking to see.

Upon arriving in the Capital of our country with their minds set on performing at their best, the team tried not to psyche themselves out.
“I knew I wouldn’t be nervous when I got on stage,” Alison Aho, an Improv team rookie, commented. “I really wanted to be focused on the opportunity we had presented to us… we were up against the best of the nation! That’s an honour of in its own right!” James Amero felt the same about having a chance to shine in Ottawa. “I was pretty pumped to win the regional title. I think we were ready to go out there and certainly gave it our all,” James speculated, “Our coaches had prepared us well and I think we are totally in the zone!”

With much adrenaline and the pressure to represent the best of the north, the Vikings improvised their best in front of an audience of over 400. Though they ended up placing 17th out of a competitive field of 20, they certainly set a new standard for the future of Improv at Lockerby. “It was a learning experience,” Stephanie Sindori noted. “Next year the team will have the pressure to develop and become a competitive team from early on. Three of us are done high school now… it’s up to the team veterans to take what they learned from Nationals and bring it to the Sudbury stage.”

With the year of Improv over, the team can be proud of all they have accomplished. Whether it be the performance they put on as a supper fundraiser for their trip at the Caruso club, or their gold medal success, the team proved that even Vikings can dominate in a theatrical arena.

Vikings Legacy Grows

By Mr. Hatzis

 Yesterday afternoon in North Bay, Lockerby’s Senior Boys Soccer captured their third consecutive AAA Northern Ontario Championship. The Vikings came out playing aggressive soccer against Scollard Hall Sacred Heart. Grade 9 goal keeper Thomas Guscott cleared the ball two-thirds of the field, right to forward Deven Stillar, who blew by two defenders and buried the ball in the net, giving the Vikings 1-0 lead.

However, despite Lockerby’s possession of the ball for most of the play, North Bay rallied back off a free kick before half-time to tie up the game 1-1. In the second half, the game is hit by a hail storm, causing players to loose their footing. North Bay again capitalized off a kick that deflected off two players, into Lockerby’s net, giving them a 2-1 lead.

The Vikings were down. Both physically and emotionally. However, as the rain stopped, Lockerby found its second hunger in the game, and the veterans decided they were not going to loose their title. Captain Calum Doyle takes a free kick late in the second half that Deven Stillar redirects to Captain Derek Huffels, who than back heads the ball over the goalie, tying the game 2-2.

With less than 5 minutes on the clock, North Bay looses the ball in the midfield, picked-up by James Carpino, sprints with it down the line, and crosses it to Derek Huffels who one-times it into the net, winning the game 3-2.

The team will once again represent Northern Ontario at the AAA Provincial Championships held in Thunderbay next week.

The 2008 NOSSA Boys AAA Soccer roster:

Thomas Guscott
Calum Doyle
Will Richie
PJ Taus
Colin Loney
Chad Beauvais
Devon Boyne
Mike Cuddy
James Carpino
Dave Poulin
Derek Huffels
Delti Becker
Nick Geurin
Deven Stillar
Abdul Saad
Ben Gutjar
Adam Ali
and Andrew Bellrose

Surf's Up Lockerby!

by: Kaitlin Sheridan

Put on your surf gear Vikes, here comes the 2007-2008 athletic banquet! In a celebration of athletic excellence, this annual dinner and dance recognizes the accomplishments of the many Lockerby athletes and also includes prizes for award winners. This event will take place June 12th at the Caruso Club, and in case you hadn’t guessed, this year’s theme is Surf’s up Lockerby!

The Athletic Banquet is organized by the Lockerby Athletics Association along with the support of the Physical Education department. Sports not your thing but you want to go anyway? The athletic banquet is open to absolutely everyone, no coordination required! All you have to do is buy your ticket in the PhysEd hallway at lunch or talk to any of the LAA members. The tickets are sold for $25 and will be sold until the week preceding the banquet. Are you a track athlete? If you are, there is an added incentive for you to attend. All you have to do to get a *free* ticket is see any PhysEd staff and hand in your track piney. Remember, whether you’re an athlete, an avid supporter, or you just want to get dressed up and look downright silly, the athletic banquet is the place for you.

The purpose of the athletic banquet is to recognize the efforts of Lockerby’s athletes. MVP awards for each respective team are handed out, as well as specific individual awards based on the sport. There are also “Minor” and “Major” awards given based on the number of points the athlete has accumulated over his or her high school career. Every SDSSAA, NOSSA, or OFSAA win provides an athlete will a certain number of points. Once an athlete accumulates 500 points, a “Minor” award is given. Once an athlete reaches 1000 points, a “Major” award is given. However, the most prestigious awards given at the athletic banquet are the male and female athletes of the year awards. There are three categories; midget (grade 9), junior (grade 10), and senior (grades 11-12). Because Lockerby has so many outstanding athletes, the task of selecting one athlete, set upon the PhysEd staff, becomes increasingly difficult.

June 12th 2008 will be an evening to remember, especially for graduating students. For the athletes it will be the date where four years of hard work, determination, and perseverance are celebrated, and for the other students it will be an evening where they will be given their final opportunity to show their support. For junior athletes it is simply the beginning of their journey on the path of athletic excellence, but one of equal importance. Just remember to come prepared with your board shorts and bikinis!

What Changes Lie in Our Environmental & Energy Future?

by John McGraw

Change. It is something that we are all familiar with. Grade nines underwent a transformation in their lives, moving from elementary to secondary school. Likewise, Grade twelve students, including myself, will move onto postsecondary studies or enter the workforce. Ours lives will change substantially, since we are almost adults and we will have more liberty and responsibility than ever.

But we’re being a little short-sighted and closed-minded. Let’s think a little further into the future, say ten or fifteen years. What will the world be like in 2020, in terms of the environment and energy situations?

Today, nearly everyone is familiar with the mainstream environmental issues, notably climate change or global warming. However, how much do we really know? Do we understand the scope of the problems and the multitude of solutions? Chances are that we haven’t looked at the big picture and considered how it will affect us.

Let’s begin. It is now universally accepted that the Earth’s climate is changing. This change is driven by humankind’s production of greenhouse gasses, largely from fossil-fuel combustion and land-use sources, which are upsetting the atmosphere’s delicate balance. This change in greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere is causing a shift in climate; in other words, a shift in the average weather patterns across the globe. Most areas are getting warmer and a handful of regions are becoming cooler. What’s the issue, you must be asking yourselves?

This shift in climate has many more repercussions that are beginning to be felt now and that will become much more profound in time. In general, these changes are detrimental. Research links climate change to more powerful hurricanes and similar natural disasters. Changing precipitation patterns mean that drought will affect many parts of the world. Evaporation rates are increasing, which means that inland lakes and rivers will dry up. In contrast, sea levels are set to rise, potentially displacing millions of people.

One of the biggest repercussions of climate change will be its toll on worldwide food production. The combination of more frequent drought, drying water table and soil erosion mean that the world’s growing population faces a severe threat from a destabilising climate.

By acting now to prepare for the changes that climate change will bring and to lower our greenhouse gas emissions to minimise future change, which will ensure a bright future. However, we must also consider the changing energy landscape if we wish to understand the world in 2020. Energy is fundamental to our modern world. And it’s fossil energy that supplies over 80% of our energy needs. The most important fossil fuel today is crude oil. It satisfies over 40% of the world’s total energy needs and it is used for countless products, such as plastics, pesticides and other chemicals and medicines. Modern agriculture needs fossil fuels for making pesticides, herbicides, fertiliser, and harvesting, processing and transporting food. Crude oil—and every other fossil fuel for that matter—is a finite resource, which begs the question: “When will it run out?” Well, the answer is twofold. We will never run out of fossil fuels—there will always be oil, natural gas and coal in the ground. The real issue is the combination geological, political and economical factors causing production of crude oil to reach a maximum production rate. When this occurs, we’ve reached peak oil, and oil production will remain stagnant for a period of time before declining.

Some people may still be wondering why this is so important. When one considers it, our society is based on cheap, abundant petroleum. Once we reach peak oil, we will no longer be able to increase our production of this vital resource. Think about it: several agencies forecast world demand for crude oil to grow 37% by 2030. China and India are industrialising rapidly—likewise, their oil consumption is increasing exponentially. Demand for oil in other developing countries is increasing. If oil production remains stagnant and demand is increasing drastically, the result is not promising. If oil production is decreasing in face of skyrocketing demand, the result is devastating.

When will we be reaching this peak in production? It is hard to determine a precise date and experts don’t have a consensus. Nevertheless, the International Energy Agency foresees oil demand surpassing production between 2010 and 2015. Numerous experts and organisations forecast a peak year between now and 2020. Even Shell, the West’s second largest oil corporation, is warning that oil supplies will become increasing scarce after 2015. Likewise, count on the current increase in energy prices to continue into the future. Jeff Rubin, chief economist for CIBC World Markets, predicts that crude prices will hit $200 per barrel by 2012. Goldman Sachs, the world’s largest investment bank, predicts that we’ll hit the $200 per barrel mark even sooner, which is double the price of January 2008.

It’s obvious that there will be massive changes on the environmental and energy fronts. Changes will happen on the international scale, and in the scale of our everyday lives. Nevertheless, you shouldn’t feel that we’re doomed. There are many solutions to climate change and energy scarcity.  These changes can even be beneficial: more expensive energy will lead people to be more active, meaning that we’ll be healthier. It will also mean that healthier local food will be cheaper than food imported from abroad. Jobs will be created in North America, since it will become more economical to produce goods at home rather than shipping them across the globe. If we act now, Canada can become a leader in alternate energy and sustainability, assuring a promising future for all of us.

Now knowing what the future may hold, we must act to make the most of it. We can shape the future. Our everyday decisions can affect what the future is like. Our career paths can help shape a more sustainable world. Who we vote to represent us will dictate how the government plans for our future.
We must be serious about dealing with these issues, however, if we wish to avert a dire future. Jean-Jacques Munyakazi, a Grade 12 student, says “We are the future.” He is right. We are the world’s upcoming leaders, and we must work together in order to surmount these problems. Let’s step up to the plate and make a positive difference!

Iron Man - The Awaited Blockbuster

In the last few weeks, the next long-awaited superhero movie since the third installment of Spiderman hit the big screens all over the world. It did well. The movie has been ranked as the top movie in the world, and is still continuing to take in big money.

Iron Man stars Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark, the money-raised young CEO of Stark Industries, a weapons manufacturing company with contracts to the United States army. Taking over the company at 21, the Stark character has since revolutionized the world of weapons, and is now reaping the monetary rewards in the busy yet care-free lifestyle only billionaires have.

A change in personality occurs when he is captured while touring the U.S. military establishment in Afghanistan. He is taken by a terrorist group and forced to make one of his new "Jericho" missiles for the other side. He is supplied by the terrorist group's stockhouses of other Stark Industries products! This news is shocking to a patriotic Stark, who instead makes himself his prototype supersuit and escapes, vowing a retribution to the terrorists and a review of his field of business. From here, the story unfolds as Stark builds his familiar Iron Man get-up and takes on the bad guys, no longer the carefree man he was before.
Stark soon learns that life as a hero is not a nice one, and does battle against terrorists, the U.S. air force, and even his corrupt business partner.

The movie blends action, heroism, and comedy, and is recommended to all who have that love of comic books, that taste for action with a comic flair, or that personal philosophy that "if nothing blows up, its not a movie"!

It is a must see on the big screen, as that is where it will be at its best.